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may be asked, does not the coolie work more and earn a greater
amount ? In attempting to arrive at an answer it is necessary to
bear in mind that-
(1) Under the Duars' system a new coolie on his entry into
the country is already indebted to his sardar for the ad-
vance he has received, and for his train fare and journey
up. This advance is usually recovered from him, not by
the deduction of a fixed monthly amount from his wages
but by means of an arrangement which may be called the
giving of "living allowance". Under this system the
sardar allows a certain amount for maintenance, and him-
self takes whatever the coolie's pay may be until such time
as the advance is paid. When it is remembered that the
average total monthly wage of a man is less than Rs. 4 and
that of a woman less than Rs. 3 paid through the hands
of the sardars (not including the small average amount
of "ticca" paid direct into the hands of the coolie (see
Assam Labour Enquiry Committee Report) it will be evi-
dent that the average "living allowance" must be still
less. So far as we can ascertain it is in the case of a man,
never more than Re. 1 per week and becomes reduced just
in those cases where circumstances press most acutely as
when sickness or weakness has once asserted itself.
(2) The effect upon a working coolie of an inadequate diet is,
we believe, at once to force him unconsciously to attempt
to keep his physiological balance by stopping work. We
believe then that one result of the sardar system of pay-
ment and the recovery of advances leads in this way to a fre-
quent condition of "laziness", if it can be called this on
the part of the labourer arising really from physiological
causes and that there is a grave tendency for the occurrence
of a vicious cycle of inadequate diet, sickness and unwil-
lingness to work, the nature of which when brought
about is unrecognised by all concerned.
(3) Any sudden call obliging the coolie to obtain even a small
sum of money necessitates further indebtedness to the